Bath County School Board chairman says he will fight to remain on the board

Bath County School Board Chairman Bill Boyd said Friday that he has retained an attorney and will fight to keep his seat on the board.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said recently that he will recommend that the state Board of Education unseat Boyd over a number of alleged violations.

Holliday also wrote to Boyd, urging him to resign voluntarily so that the case would not cause a distraction within the Bath County Schools. Boyd replied that he would not resign.

"I have retained an attorney to represent me, and I plan to fight this thing all the way," Boyd said.

Boyd said Edward Dove, a Lexington attorney, will represent him. According to Boyd, Dove has notified Holliday by letter that Boyd will contest the charges.

The charges stem from an investigation by the state Office of Accountability, which among other things cited Boyd for alleged violations of the state open meetings law, willful neglect of duties and failure to give Bath County School Superintendent Nancy Hutchinson a performance evaluation as required by law.

Boyd, a frequent critic of Hutchinson, acknowledged that he failed to do the review, but he maintained that he declined because he didn't think he could give an objective evaluation.

"Had we done it, then they would have complained we were biased or we weren't fair," he said.

Boyd and some other board members have been in a dispute with Hutchinson over various issues since 2009. This spring they tried to terminate her contract, although Hutchinson later obtained a temporary injunction in Bath Circuit Court to block the attempt.

It would take a vote by the full state school board to oust Boyd from his post. It isn't known when the board will take up the matter.